"Annie Wilson is a demon, which is to say a human with no skin"

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"Annie Wilson is a demon, which is to say a human with no skin"

choreographer, performer, director, writer, bartender

photo credit: Tasha Doremus

Performance is a place to practice survival, to inoculate yourself against what is most uncomfortable in life: absurdity. Chaos. Lack of resolution. If the body is the locus of all earthly experience, performance is a place to put it under a microscope. Or telescope.

My dances are magic, animistic, pop-spectacle church services. I find epic poetry in banal moments. In my work, there are the rhythms of different realms of culture: burlesque, standup comedy, church services, Dan Savage advice columns, viral videos, DJ remixes. I search for the ways those rhythms bounce off, morph into, manipulate, and illuminate the rhythms of my body: the rate of my breathing, the pace of my thoughts, the hormonal highs and lows of my menstrual cycle, and the glacial-yet-rapid aging of my body. The results are dances that sing with contrary values systems.

Cats! Love 'em, and their obliviousness to the passage of time. Humans are not so lucky. We see our doom cresting over the horizon. So what to do until then? I propose we remix dances, hug strangers, and wail together. Let's throw our belief and cynicism in the ring together and watch them fight (or hold hands).

Let's draft a new social contract. And pour glitter on it.

up next

up next

Ten Tiny Dances- A Fundraiser for Mascher

October 27th and 28th, Mascher Space Cooperative

More info and tickets coming soon!

Leah Stein Dance Company Studio Works

November 13th, 7 PM, suggested donation $5-20

I’ll be showing some new work alongside some fantastic artists, including Marion Ramirez and Steve Davit.

I’ve been making dance videos in rehearsal, I’ve been trying to move like an alien. I’ve been thinking about exactly how I’d like to die. I’ve been thinking about how quickly we’ll all die. I want to cram that thinking into a 10 minute showing. More info and tickets here:

Wintry Mix at Bryn Mawr College

January 26th, 8 PM

Wintry Mix is curated by the brilliant artists Nichole Canuso and Cynthia Hopkins this year. I’m sure I will be joined by a bunch of genuises. A mixed bill evening. More info and tickets here:

Action is Primary by Meg Foley. Photo credit: Tasha Doremus

holy shit

holy shit

pew fellow 2017

I am beyond thrilled to be awarded a Pew Fellowship in 2017.

I am so honored to be among the ranks of Nichole Canuso, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, and Camae Ayewa.

You know, I started this website update thinking I would know how to finish it, but I don't. It's just very new and I didn't fully prepare to actually get it.

Point is, I'm very grateful.

It's a good moment to mention how much I love the cultural world in Philadelphia. It is without question my artistic home and has directly shaped me as an artist. In particular, Headlong has done so much to support my career. There is literally not one step I take without their guidance. Thank you Philly, thank you to the many brilliant artists I have had the deep pleasure of working with, and thank you Headlong for helping me even imagine an artistic life.

Learn more about the other Fellows here: http://www.pcah.us/grants-grantees/fellowships

recent dances

recent dances

These are some works I've made in the past few years. Generally speaking they are culminations of research, in the sense that they are a large wave that several small waves crest inside.

Lovertits

A burlesque-postmodern-dance-theater-bad-improv performance. Why does the performance of sexiness look so different from the actual act of sex? Why is it so funny? Why anxiety dreams about losing things in your vagina? Why “Orgasm Wars?” Why clitoris? Why weird bags of fat that hang from your chest?

photo credit: Kate Raines/Plate 3 Photography

Hipster Shaman

Combining her knowledge of Presbyterianism, Evangelicalism, Reiki, Wicca, Bodytalk, Dance, Yoga, Performance and Presence, Shamanism, Cat Attunement, Time Travel, Astral Projection, and Snarfding Annie Wilson as Hipster Shaman will draw your demons out of you and cast them into the ground. Or maybe she’ll just pretend to.